Censor Board asks former royal family, historians, and experts to review Padmavati

The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) has comprised a six-member panel including historians, experts and members of the former royal family to examine the authenticity of Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s controversial magnum opus Padmavati. The panel is ready to review the film as it still waits to get a nod from the censor board for release in cinema halls.

The previous royal family of Mewar had refused to be a part of the panel and on the other hand, asked for a formally written clarification on the points raised by him earlier, the ministry of information and broadcasting said. The panel constituted by Censor Board Chief Prasoon Joshi to “scrutinize the authenticity” of the script will make its comments after which the CBFC is likely to send a formal report to the ministry. Prior to it, the film was sent back to the producers following it was found that the column for declaring whether it was a work of fiction or was based on historical facts was left blank.

The censor board members also added that the film has been pointlessly added in controversy due to unclear disclaimers in its application for a certification that it is ‘partially based on historical facts’. Bhansali, however, had refused to call it a work of fiction. This magnum opus 190-crore budgeted film was scheduled for December 1 release but following the controversy over Karni Sena’s alleged distorting of history in the film delayed its release. The chief ministers of Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh had already banned the film till its important portions that represent Rani Padmini in the wrong light are deleted from the film.